Richlands responds to coach

Richlands’ Ransome Stone dribbles the ball with no one around during the second half of the Wildcats’ 3-1 win over East Duplin in an East Central 2-A Conference soccer game on Monday night at Richlands High School.

Chris Miller/The Daily News

By CHRIS MILLER

Published: Tuesday, September 18, 2012 at 03:20 PM.

RICHLANDS — Coach Mike Roed’s message was heard loud and clear.

With his Richlands soccer team leading 1-0 at halftime, Roed stressed to his club that winning the second half was going to be key if the Wildcats were to earn a victory over East Duplin on Monday night.

Roed got exactly what he wanted as Richlands booted a pair of goals in the first 8 minutes of the second half en route to a 3-1 win over the Panthers.

“I think the first 15 to 20 minutes of each half we really came out and took it to them,” Roed said. “We dictated how we were going to play. We came out ready to put them away early.”

The Wildcats led 1-0 on a first-half goal by Ty Thompson and then got an unassisted goal by Tyler Litchenstein just 4:16 into the second half before Trey Smith added a penalty kick goal nearly 3 minutes later to make it 3-0.

With his Richlands soccer team leading 1-0 at halftime, Roed stressed to his club that winning the second half was going to be key if the Wildcats were to earn a victory over East Duplin on Monday night.

Roed got exactly what he wanted as Richlands booted a pair of goals in the first 8 minutes of the second half en route to a 3-1 win over the Panthers.

“I think the first 15 to 20 minutes of each half we really came out and took it to them,” Roed said. “We dictated how we were going to play. We came out ready to put them away early.”

The Wildcats led 1-0 on a first-half goal by Ty Thompson and then got an unassisted goal by Tyler Litchenstein just 4:16 into the second half before Trey Smith added a penalty kick goal nearly 3 minutes later to make it 3-0.

“We have been playing really well, we just haven’t been able to score some goals,” Roed said. “We were getting a little frustrated. But I think all of them (wins) are really needed, especially in this conference where every team is going to battle for those (playoff) spots.”

Thompson believes the Wildcats are better than what their record indicates.

“I think we are,” he said. “We started off slow with first-game jitters and we kept moving people around. I think we are going to be a good team.”

Meanwhile, East Duplin (4-7-1, 0-2) suffered its fifth consecutive loss. The Panthers have been competitive at times while remembering teammate Francisco “Chico” Zuncin, who died in a car wreck last month.

“It’s really hard to say and know what’s going on in their minds,” Jones said.

Richlands took a 1-0 lead with 24:37 left in the first half when Thompson stole a pass on East Duplin’s defensive third of the field and took a few dribbles before shooting inside the 18-yard line.

“I saw the pass coming and I didn’t hesitate,” Thompson said. “I knew he (East Duplin defender) was going to play it and I just kept going with it. It gave us a lot (of momentum) going up 1-0. We didn’t want to back down.”

Still, it wasn’t until early in the second half when the Wildcats began to pull away.

Litchenstein made it 2-0 less than 5 minutes into the second half when he scored following a teammate’s shot that was blocked by the goalkeeper.

Smith them essentially put the game away with his PK goal.

“We just went hard and didn’t let down,” Thompson said. “We knew this was a conference match and that we had a lot to prove.”

While the Panthers possessed the ball well at times, they didn’t elevate their attack until the waning minutes. By that time, it was too late.

“Even though we were moving the ball, we started sluggish,” Jones said. “They (Wildcats) outhustled us.”

East Duplin wanted to feed the ball to its forwards, but Richlands’ defenders were often in position to deny passes down the field. The Panthers didn’t register their first shot on goal until Madrigal scored.

“We were trying to stay inside of them (Panthers) and hoping to put a little pressure on the guys who play in the middle,” Roed said. “Julian (Williams) and Tolson (Jeffrey) really did a good job of forcing balls (in the opposite direction), which allowed Jax to be able to get those a little bit more.”